President Bola Tinubu has called on stakeholders to join hands with his administration in resolving the issues of funding facing tertiary education in Nigeria.
He made this call on Saturday during his address at the 36th convocation ceremony of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Ondo State, where no fewer than 1,030 students were awarded postgraduate degrees while a total of 1,717 students received first degrees across the university’s 10 faculties on Friday.
The President, represented by the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Universities Commission, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, noted that education should not be left to the government alone, emphasising the need for collaboration among stakeholders.
“While the Federal Government does not have any intention of abandoning its responsibilities to higher educational institutions, the time has come for all stakeholders to reassess the archaic model of complete reliance on government for funding and modify the educational system for sustainable funding”, he said.
He added that funding of government-owned universities across the world is a collective responsibility of all stakeholders.
Tinubu emphasized that the link between tertiary institutions and industry in Nigeria should be improved, urging academics to conduct research that would meaningfully address the country’s challenges.
The president, addressing the graduates, encouraged them to utilize the knowledge acquired at the institution to contribute to Nigeria’s economic development, create jobs in their respective fields and be self-reliant.
“The government is equally hopeful that you will defend your new status as graduates through consistent hard work, increased focus, patriotic citizenship, and unalloyed commitment to national unity, peace, and progress,” the President charged.
In her remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of FUTA, Prof. Adenike Oladiji, noted that the university will continue to pursue its “tripodal mandate” of teaching, research, and community service with unflinching efforts.
“During the academic session under review, National Universities Commission (NUC) teams visited the university between November and December to conduct the October/November 2024 undergraduate programme accreditation exercise for 18 programmes across different schools”, she disclosed.
Prof. Oladiji further announced that the institution has received the results of the exercise, with all programmes presented obtaining full accreditation status.
She revealed the institution’s efforts to widen access to university education through the introduction of Top-Up programmes, to enable Higher National Diploma holders to earn bachelor’s degrees. She added that the program now offers 19 degree programmes across various schools since commencement in 2024/2025 academic session.
